Junaedi, Management major

Hello! I’m Junaedi Firdaus from Indonesia. Currently, I’m a third-year student with a major in Management.

Well, before I decided to study at ISE KAZGUU, I was studying at one of the universities in Almaty. But, the Ambassador suggested studying in Nur-Sultan because the embassy is located here. So, I came to Nur-Sultan and started my study at KAZGUU because this University is one of the best in Kazakhstan.

I liked the approach the university takes to the courses, the University provides good lecturers and also a good educational system which will help students when they start their careers.

I like the University’s environment. I like the vibes because there are a lot of events and comfortable places to study and it wouldn’t make you bored even if you stay the whole day at the University.

Well, there are a lot of challenges that I faced when I studied abroad for the first time. First of all, the language. Because I have studied abroad as a non-native English speaker I had to learn the language to have deep and efficient communication. But, this challenge will make you a better self and it feels really amazing when you can talk with foreigners in their language. 🙂

Any story you would like to tell to the future ISE KAZGUU students:)

Even though grades are really crucial in education, never forget about additional activities that will support your passion. For instance, create YouTube, Instagram and Tik Tok if you are interested in content creation. Join student organizations to increase communication skills and expand your network, etc. Experience is better than grades.

Max, International Relations major

Hello, my name is Max. I am 21 years old and I am studying International Relations at Rhine-Waal University in Germany in my third year. At the moment, I am participating in an exchange programme with KAZGUU university.

I was searching for an opportunity to study in Central Asia and KAZGUU is one of our partner universities in the region. That’s how I became aware of the ISE and the course of International Relations that is offered here. Through this channel, I received an overview of the curriculum and additional information about the university.

My studies here, allow me to get to know a different perspective on International Relations and I am able to contrast the European and the Central Asian approaches. I have got the opportunity to learn about topics that are not featured in the curriculum of my university. Apart from that, I like that the student life at KAZGUU is very vivid and the university as well as the community of students offers a variety of activities related to studies as well as free time.

In the beginning, it was challenging to have to rely solely on yourself without having a supportive network of family and friends close to you. For the whole period of my stay, I would say the language barrier is the greatest challenge of conducting everyday life, meeting people and understanding culture and practices. It produces frequent misunderstandings and increases the effort needed for simple tasks.

Any story you would like to tell to the future ISE KAZGUU students?
Being proactive in asking questions to pay off. Actively search for issues that you are interested in and people that can help you achieve what you are aiming for. By asking questions you will find people just as curious as you about things you want to know about. In my experience, there are a lot of people willing to help you, but you have to let them know what you are looking for.

Muhammad Julfi, Accounting and Audit major

My name is Muhammad Julfi Annur, from Indonesia, and I’m a third-year student in Accounting and Audit.

ISE has the vision to unlock the potential of the students in KAZGUU by improving the academic quality of the programs through integrating into international education, research and business community, and professional development. And it offers High-quality educational programmes in Economics, Management, Accounting and Audit, Finance, IT in Business and International Relations.

I like the facilities provided by the University. I like the learning program provided by ISE KAZGUU because ISE provides programs in English that make it easier for me to learn.

If I say about student life, I like the sense of student life I got at the university. It’s nice to have supportive friends who are going through the same things as you. And I had freedom of choice and a lot of options, so it was difficult to decide what to study.

There are some challenges of studying abroad. First is homesickness, because I had difficulties of living in a foreign country. The second is the language and cultural barrier, because the languages spoken here are generally Kazakh and Russian, which I don’t understand at all. And it took me quite a long time to learn Russian so I can communicate with local residents or other students. But it’s too hard for me to learn that language.

Any story you would like to tell to the future ISE KAZGUU students?

You should enjoy studying at ISE KAZGUU because it is awesome. It will help you in your future career if you have a diploma from ISE KAZGUU. Firstly, it will be difficult for you to adapt to your studies, but it will not take you much time because at this university you will have good friends who will help you if you have any problems.

Bekzat, IT major

Hi there, my name’s Bekzat, I am from Uzbekistan. IT in business sophomore student and co-founder of @sensus_academy. I like people. If you ask me how I learnt about ISE, I attended an educational exhibition in Tashkent, where Botagoz Nurlanovna, who is currently a lecturer at KAZGUU, introduced me to IT in business faculty and thereafter I decided to participate in the scholarship competition. What do I like about the university? Different cultures and different views lead to different thinking, which is the way for innovation. Moreover, I like interactive classes with group projects rather than boring lectures.

In general, I faced no serious challenges in studying abroad, maybe because I am an ethnic Kazakh. The only issue was with understanding local dialects (especially the Western ones).